The Rumanian Government today smashed what was described as a Fascist plot against the State and the person of King Carol by arresting Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and 200 leaders of his proscribed “Iron Guard.”
Moving swiftly after publication of documents during the night which apparently showed the anti-Semitic pro-Nazi Iron Guard was preparing an armed “putsch,” police throughout the country swooped down on all headquarters of the clandestine organization.
The newspaper Cuvantul, an extreme Rightist and Germanophile organ whose relations with the Iron Guard were particularly close, was suppressed. The newspaper was founded about 15 years ago and was managed by Nicholas Ionescu, who was also a representative of the I.G. Farben Industrie, German chemical trust.
In addition to the 200 Iron Guard chiefs arrested, 13 employes of the Bucharest tramways company were dismissed for political activity on the Iron Guard’s behalf. Scores of other Iron Guard followers were also believed to have been seized throughout the whole of Rumania, although no detailed information was immediately available.
The charge that the Iron Guard had been plotting against the King’s person lent an extremely serious aspect to the alleged plot. Codreanu’s organization has frequently attacked king Carol in pamphlets and other writings.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
